Vettel's maximum haul moved him a solitary point clear of his rival in the championship, coming home ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen as the top three finished as they had started.

Even in a week as rich in sporting spectacle as any you will see - from Alexander Ovechkin finally winning a Stanley Cup and then celebrating with fans in a Washington fountain, to Justify winning the Triple Crown, to Rafael Nadal taking his 11th title at Roland Garros and Simona Halep winning her first - a Formula One race is a scene to match any on the planet. Fortunately the forecast looks good this year, with only partly cloudy skies predicted for both Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race.

"I am happy with this weekend so far".

"Pole position is always important", said Vettel. "Gilles Villeneuve, the favourite driver of Enzo Ferrari".

It was a strong result for Bottas, who made himself the leading Mercedes driver for the weekend thanks to his better feeling for Pirelli's softest tires, but he lamented that his auto didn't have the pace to challenge for more.

"There would have been gains and I think it would have been a close fight for the pole with the new engine parts, but we're going to get it later", said Bottas. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have dominated the field this season.

"I think I was a bit in trouble after Friday practice, but I guess I woke up the right way today".

He admitted: "We were coming to Montreal expecting our auto to be really strong and we are leaving Montreal seeing that we haven't been where we thought we should be". "So I tried it all but I wasn't sure until the end if it was enough".

Daniel Ricciardo took the chequered flag in fourth ahead of Hamilton with Kimi Raikkonen sixth for Ferrari.

Vettel sees another chance to honour the memory of Gilles Villeneuve, who died in a crash at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix, with a Ferrari win.

"Like every grand prix there's not one person to dedicate it to", said Vettel. But the Finn says that it's the race strategy that could prove the decisive factor.

After 20-some strolls down to the Senna corner to watch the cars come through on that first lap, I can tell you there is nearly nothing like seeing them barrel down the straightaway, brake down nearly to a standstill through the chicane and then seemingly leap up and out of sight around the bend.